Dunedin voters will again find candidates' names listed alphabetically in this year's city council elections.
Councillors with names ranging from each end of the alphabet - from Bill Acklin to Colin Weatherall - voted for the status quo on the issue, despite arguments from other councillors a random order would be fairer.
A report on the issue gave three options: alphabetical order; pseudo-random order, where names are drawn at random and placed on voting documents in that order; and random order, where software is used to print names in different order on each paper.
Alphabetical listing has drawn protest in the past from some councillors whose surnames start with a letter nearer the end of the alphabet.
Cr Weatherall moved alphabetical order should stay as it was a simple system and the city was changing its voting system this year, with fewer wards.
That change was behind Cr Teresa Stevenson's argument for a random order.
She said it meant a "massive list" of candidates, and some people would get bored after reading the top few names.
"Is that what you do?" Cr Fliss Butcher asked her.
Cr Stevenson said councillors with names starting with A or B would have an advantage.
Cr Walls asked if Cr Stevenson was advocating the telephone book should be in random order.
Cr Cull said with random order, nobody would be disadvantaged, but an 11-to-four vote meant the alphabetic order would stay.
"I wish Xylophone, Yobbo and Zob the best of luck," Cr Guest said.
